Harbhajan Singh destroyed England's first innings of their Indian Test series which opened in Mohali today.

With all the pre-match talk surrounding the receptiveness of the PCA Stadium surface to seam movement early in the day, Harbhajan bided his time before sneaking in on the blindside.

The man that was the torment of the mighty Australians - he took 32 of the 49 wickets in the sensational series win over Steve Waugh's side - claimed five of the last six wickets that fell as England slumped from 224 for four to 238 all out.

In doing so, Harbhajan became the first spinner to take five wickets in an innings, in the fourth Test, at India's newest international venue.

His post-tea spell of 7.3-3-6-5 shattered the promise shown by the tourists during the morning when captain Nasser Hussain and Marcus Trescothick shared a century stand for the second wicket.

By the close, India had narrowed the advantage to 214 for the loss of Shiv Surender Das, who was bowled shouldering arms to the medium pace of Mark Butcher.

England's tail was cruelly exposed by Harbhajan's ability to gain significant bounce from any surface.

Debutant James Foster became his 50th victim of 2001 when he was trapped leg before during that spell of six wickets for 14 runs in as many overs.

Mark Ramprakash, Richard Dawson and Matthew Hoggard - the latter two in consecutive deliveries - all provided bat-pad catches, while Andrew Flintoff skewered to point after advancing down the wicket.

The late demise followed promise of a much healthier total based on the back of Hussain and Trescothick's 125-run stand.

The pair came together in the first over of the morning when debutant Tinu Yohannan shaped a delivery across Mark Butcher and VVS Laxman held the first of his four catches, this one at second slip.

From there on, England's captain continued his impressive tour form in his first-ever Test in the country of his birth.

Taking his toll on India's inexperienced seam trio when they erred in length, Hussain dominated the early part of their partnership, his sixth four taking the tourists past the half century.

His mixture of aggression and patience once again served him well and helped England to maintain a scoring rate in excess of four an over in the pre-lunch session.

But having hit 13 fours and a six over extra-cover off Harbhajan, Hussain perished for 85 when leg-spinner Anil Kumble replaced his fellow spinner.

A lunge forward provided a catch for Laxman at silly mid-off.

Trescothick had also looked in fine touch after a circumspect 29 minutes to get off the mark.

The left-handed opener made 66, including 11 fours, from 107 balls before becoming Yohannan's second Test wicket - his decision to leave one that nipped back resulting in the uprooting of his off-stump.

Mohali's reputation for prodigious movement both in the air and off the green-tinged surface might have had England fearing worse early on.

New Zealand bowled India out for just 83 on the first morning here two years ago, but having lost the toss, his 14th consecutive in international cricket, Hussain allayed any further worries alongside his vice-captain.

But Harbhajan wrecked any hopes of a competitive score and laid down his marker for the series.